Sanctions will be imposed on anyone committing “economic sabotage” by disrupting operations in piers, including those taking part in the so-called truck holiday protest.

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Jay Santiago issued the warning on Wednesday in a press briefing at the PPA office after several trucks and private vehicles clogged up the entrance to the Port Area on R10 Road in Tondo, Manila, as part of a six-day truck holiday protest.

[Economic sabotage will have the appropriate criminal penalty, depending on the magnitude of what they’re doing, depending on the damage. That’s what they will face, besides administrative sanctions, penalties and fines to be imposed by appropriate agencies like the LTFRB.]

Last Monday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) warned that they would impose sanctions on those proven to have affected the “free flow of commerce to and from the Port of Manila by preventing and/or threatening the operations of trucking companies.”

[We will see if the trucks identified violated their permit to operate, or the franchise conditions of the PPA, or the franchise conditions of the LTFRB. That’s how we will determine if they sanctions should be imposed on them.]

Santiago said concerned agencies would also further study the evidence presented during the protest to determined the sanctions that would be imposed.

[We have identified those who organized and those who participated in the activity. We will look at documentary evidence, at recorded evidence if there are elements present in the activity that will merit filing the appropriate case, including economic sabotage.] /atm

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